Page 50 of Captive Hearts
Once he was finished, he gave one last instruction. ‘Make the call.’
Ashley sighed and rang DI Conway. ‘Hi, Ashley?’
‘Yep, it’s me. Rick’s ready to release the rest of the hostages.’
‘That’s great news,’ DI Conway said with no relief whatsoever. She was waiting for the caveat. Ashley gave it to her. ‘So, here’s how Rick would like this to happen. He wants you to get him a small private plane, with a pilot.’
There was a long pause. ‘OK...’
‘He wants it parked in the car park, the door as close to the entrance of the restaurant as possible.’
‘Well, I’ll… see what I can do. Anything else?’
‘Yes, he wants a hundred grand waiting for him on the plane. He wants you to know he could have asked for more, but he’s not greedy. He just wants start-up money for his new life.’
‘That’s certainly…’ the detective did an audible swallow, ‘very reasonable. But I’m sure you know, that’s a fairly big ask. I’m going to have to talk to my superiors, and even if I get the OK, it’ll take some time to arrange. But in the meantime, could I ask when Rick will be letting everyone go?’
‘Everyone’s going to come out with him. He’ll jump on the plane, and once the door’s closed, everyone can go. That’s when Rick will give instructions to the pilot.’
‘So at this point, the pilot will be a hostage. Can I just clarify that?’
Ashley looked at Rick, putting her hand over the receiver. ‘That’s true, isn’t it?’
‘Only until we get where we’re going. Then they can fly off home; no harm, no foul,’ Rick shrugged.
Ashley wasn’t happy about that. She wasn’t happy about any of it. Just for a start, you couldn’t just jump in a plane and go anywhere you liked. You had to file a flight plan and get permission from your chosen airport to land. Ashley wasn’t an expert on planes, but she didn’t think a small aircraft could carry enough fuel to get him to a different continent. But what could she do? She’d tried sense, but it wasn’t working. She took her hand off the receiver. ‘Rick has confirmed that’s correct. But he vows not to harm the pilot. They will drop him off at his chosen destination and then be allowed to take the plane back home.’
‘How can we be sure of that? Beyond a vow?’
‘Because there’s nothing in it for me to hurt them,’ Rick said, snatching the phone. ‘I’m flying out of your grasp. Fuck it, I might give you my new address once I’ve settled, nothing you could do with it, is there?’
DI Conway sighed. ‘Rick. Hello. Nice to speak to you again.’
‘Can’t say the same. You’ve done my fucking head in today, truth be told.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ the detective said. ‘The only thing I want to achieve today is a peaceful end to this for all parties.’
‘The only thing you want toachieveis getting me locked up. Orworse,’ he yelled. ‘Now fucking crack on with my demands. Alright?’ He slammed the phone down hard, panting, enraged. ‘Fucking arsehole. Thinks she can talk to me like a bastard kid!’ He began an awkward, angry shuffle out of the booth. Once he was free, he went behind the bar and grabbed a beer. But he couldn’t get the cap off quickly enough for his liking and tossed the bottle on the ground, smashing it. The whole room tensed.
Oh, and he’s got mummy issues on top of everything else,thought Ashley.Classic.
Rick took a few deep breaths and gathered himself. Once he was collected, he picked out another beer from the fridge and tried to pop the top off. But that one didn’t come easily either, and the bottle joined its predecessor on the floor, smashed to bits. ‘For fuck’s sake, what the hell is wrong with these fucking bottles?!’ he screamed.
Gina put down the camera and walked over to Rick. ‘You seem stressed, why don’t you sit down? I’ll get us all a beer.’
Ashley was surprised. Gina wasn’t really one for stepping out from behind the camera. But she was doing it now, bringing her take-it-easy vibe over to Rick, trying to keep him calm. She was doing exactly what she’d been asking Ashley to do. She was using what she had to help.
Ashley was so grateful, she wanted to cry. She wasn’t alone in this anymore.
